Seabird distribution in the northern Barents Sea marginal ice-zone during late summer

Abstract

The abundance of five seabird species in ice-covered parts of the northern Barents Sea in late summer 1982 was analysed in relation to differences in sea-ice coverage. The dominant species was the Little Auk Allealle. Differences between the seabird species in the use of the sea-ice habitat are partly explained by differences in their feeding ecology, and, for alcid species, by the need for open water for getting airborne. All species, except for the Fulmar Pulmonis gtacialis, took as part of their diet organisms associated with the subsurface of the sea-ice. The Little Auk fed mainly on large copepods and pelagic amphipods, and was observed mainly in areas with low ice-cover where such zooplankters are abundant.